“What?” He sounded shocked.
I scoffed, feigning offense. “Why are you surprised that someone wanted to marry me?”
“Nah. If anything, I’m surprised that someone would let you go.”
Grinning, I turned onto my side. “He didn’t have a choice. I divorced him.”
“I don’t doubt it. But I can’t believe he let it happen. You’re the whole package.”
“You lose what you don’t value, and he didn’t value what he had.”
“You gonna tell me the story, or you gonna keep being vague?” he challenged.
I nodded. “You’re right. But keep in mind that my parents drilled perfection into my head, so even though I left Chance, that misguided mindset came with me, and it took me a little while to grow out of that.” I took a breath before continuing. “I met my ex in undergrad, and he asked me to marry him right after grad school. I said yes not because I thought he was the one but because it fit the perfect narrative. We separated three years later because I caught him cheating.” I shrugged even though he couldn’t see me. “As soon as I saw the messages and the pictures, I called my aunt, and she connected me with her friend who’s a divorce lawyer.”
“So, you just saw the messages and left? You didn’t talk to him about it, you just left?”
“There was nothing to talk about. But yeah, two days later, after I spoke with the lawyer and found an apartment to move into, I let him know that I was done.”
“Oh shit, that’s cold! I love it.”
“You love it?” I questioned skeptically.
“Yeah, too often people stay in shit they need to leave. You knew your worth and got up out of there. I love it.”
I smiled. “Thank you. Not everyone sees it like that, so I appreciate you.”
“Who wouldn’t have seen it like that?”
“My parents. A divorce doesn’t fit with their idea of perfection.”
“Ah. Understood. Parents can put some shit in your head, and it takes a long time to shake.”
“Yeah, exactly that.” I sighed, rolling onto my back. “You can relate?”
“My dad always talked about me getting to the league. And since there’s no family connection to get me in, I had to play a perfect game. So that’s how I’ve approached football my whole life. I’m proud of what I do, but when I got my job, for a long time, I downplayed it because it wasn’t my dad’s idea of perfect. But then I realized perfect doesn’t exist and my dad would’ve been proud, and I let that shit go.”
“Good. I’m glad you let it go and realized your dad would be proud of you regardless.”
“Yeah, I mean, there’s the fifty-three-man active roster and then the practice squad, but it’s all the same team. Anyone can get activated from the practice squad at any time and—”
I looked around the room incredulously because I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…what?”
“I’m part of the scout team, the practice squad for the Maryland Monarchs. Well, it won’t be official until the end of the month, but yeah. I’ve been on the practice squad for the last few years.”
“You play professional football?”
He let out a light chuckle. “Yeah. Defensive tackle.”
I immediately thought about how when we’d met, I’d been talking shit about how the starting defensive tackle needed to tighten up.Well, damn.
“So, I knew you worked for the Monarchs. This whole time I thought you were a consultant or something. But you are afootball player. That’s wild!”
“Okay, you sound a littletooshocked. I don’t look the part?”
I snickered. “No, you look like a football player. I told you when we met, you look like you play defense. But it’s just funny to me that when you said your day consisted of working out, meetings, and then practice, it never crossed my mind that you were on the field.” I paused. “Probably because we spent the summer going over your business plan. It was giving front-of-house consultant job.”
“I can see that,” he conceded with a chuckle. “And I’ll get there. That’s what I’m moving toward because I’m a twenty-six-year-oldpractice-squad player. Even if I stay healthy and beat out these young boys coming in for my spot, I could get released at any time. Coach Rice likes me, but it’s a week-to-week job. I could get released and picked up by another team, in another city at any time. So I have to have my backup plan ready. All it takes is one injury, and then you’re done. You never know what might happen.”
